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Per another thread here, any regular sewing machine needle can be put in the chuck. Besides being smaller, it will also be shorter, but not a problem.

I was recently to an independent and very busy fabric store with vast stock, and picked up a 5 pack of Schmetz 90/14 jeans / denim sewing machine needles for $3.00. (Plainly a mis-mark, as most needles there were $5 / pack. But the low price sticker didn't stand out among other labels on products from West Germany, yes, stickered by a clerk there twenty years ago.

I doubt JoAnns carries NOS like Stitch 'N Sew (Lakewood, NJ). How could they if they haven't been around for 60 years?

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Lots of previous generations must have had sewing awls as part of the home kit. There's no shortage of them on ebay, still in the box.

Wait a minute....maybe that toothbrush handle didn't have to be sacrificed for weight savings after all!! With a hole drilled in the end for that emergency sewing needle, (and a second larger, full-depth hole for storage).............